Everything you need to know about taking up golf from the editors of Golf Digest

We get it. Golf can seem terribly complicated to the uninitiated. So many rules, so many different kinds of clubs. And then there's the lingo: birdies, bogeys, bump-and-runs. At Golf Digest, this may be the language we speak every day, but we also know it's a language that can scare prospective golfers off before they ever pick up a club.

That's where this online beginner's guide comes in. To those who know nothing about golf, our goal is to shepherd you through this uncertainty. What kind of clubs do you need? How do you practice? When do you know that you're ready for the golf course? The way we see it, the only dumb questions about getting started in golf are the ones you're afraid to ask, or worse, the ones for which you can't find an answer. The whole point of this guide is to make sure that last part is no longer a problem.

-- Sam Weinman

5. Never get a lesson the day before an event: Winning's fun, and it's natural to want to play your best when it counts. However, resist the temptation to get a lesson or otherwise revamp your swing the day before an event. "I'll arrive to the course early and figure out my swing on the range" are universal famous last words. Golf swings take time to settle, and it's virtually guaranteed you'll play miserably if you have a lot of new thoughts in your head as you try to simultaneously cope with the experience of playing in a tournament. Go with what you know.